«ASLEEP LARION»: THE FOLK RELIGION AND THE ORTHODOX CLERGY IN THE END OF THE XIX CENTURY (ON THE MATERIALS OF SARATOV PROVINCE)

This article describes the forms of the folk religion in the context of local traditions and so the relation of the clergy to it on the materials of Saratov province in the end of the XIX century. The paper focused on the story about the veneration of youth Larion from the village Kamenny Brody of the Tsaritsyn district who was attributed as the saint. The structural analyses of the phenomenon of his veneration as reflection from the religious representations of the local orthodox community is carried out. On the base of the correspondence of clergymen the conclusions about the ambivalent reaction of the clergy on the cult of the «Asleep Larion» are drawn. In the end the summary about the specificity of the veneration of Larion as relevant to the traditional orthodox worldview but nor fitting on the conception of «rational faith» of the educated clergy.